


Until The End Of The Line

by lannisterslioness



Category: Jurassic World (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - World War II, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-05 02:40:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5357909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lannisterslioness/pseuds/lannisterslioness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based off of this prompt I got from mellie-dearing. A Clawen WWII AU, Owen meets Claire as an injured soldier, and he can’t help but become enchanted by his beautiful nurse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I wasn’t going to start another multi-chapter story, but I gave in, this prompt was just too cute. I think it’ll be about 4 or 5 parts, shouldn’t be too long, but I’m already having fun writing it.

**March 7 th, 1945**

 

     It had been a long day, and for Claire, it was turning into an even longer night. There weren’t many soldiers coming through surprisingly, but the ones that had were in rough shape, barely clinging to whatever life held them there. Claire hated nights like these, just watching the soldiers slip away knowing there was little to be done except to try and keep them holding on until they could be evacuated. The evacuations were backed up, too many extreme cases going in and not enough being stabilized, Claire and the others were doing their best to keep the patients coming in comfortable, but most of them were too far gone to even care what was happening to them. Just as Claire had caught a breather, getting another solider to get some rest to keep him from moving around with his wounds, more came bursting in with fellow soldiers.

 

     “What’s wrong with him?” Claire asked as she ran over to the soldiers who carried the soldier in, other nurses swarmed around him and started trying to stop the blood, though it was hard to tell where the wounds came from exactly.

 

     “He took a shot to the stomach and one to his left leg.” One of them replied, Claire immediately ran over to the chaos while the other nurses ushered the soldiers out.

 

     “I’ve never seen so many beautiful ladies all at once.” The solider smirked, his voice was weak and his eyes were barely held open, he was losing too much blood and Claire was astounded he was still even talking at all.

 

     “At least he’s still breathing.” Karen, Claire’s sister, mumbled while she started wiping away some of the blood pooling on his chest. “We’re going to need to lift him, this bandage has to go all the way around to keep pressure on this one until we can get Zara to get the bullet out.”

 

     Claire and all the others helped, they wrapped the bandages as tight as they could and Karen managed to get the bullet out of his leg, but there was so much blood, and Claire doubted he’d make it through the night.

 

* * *

 

     Claire checked on him periodically while making her rounds around the tent that night. While the soldiers had stopped coming in thankfully, the evacuations for the wounded were still backed up and a morning evacuation was looking far more likely. Once all the other soldiers had drifted off, Claire sat down by his side, the only one whose name she hadn’t caught that night in all the chaos. He still had his dog tags on despite everything else having been torn up to wrap up his wounds and wash off the blood. Claire reached over and carefully brought them closer for her to see, she could just barely make out his name in the dim light: _Grady, Owen_.

 

     “Find something?” His gravely voice interrupted the silence and caused Claire to jump in her seat, dropping the dog tags onto his chest.

 

     “I’m so sorry,” She whispered, her hands covering her mouth. “I just…I didn’t get your name earlier.”

 

     “You know everyone’s name in here?” He asked curiously, a faint smirk on his lips though Claire noticed how pale he was from the blood loss and how weak his voice was getting.

 

     “Yeah.” Claire answered with a nod. “I try to remember everyone’s name.”

 

     Owen tried to move his hand, Claire grabbed it to keep him still, but he squeezed her hand and pulled away, pointing out the unconscious man next to him.

 

     “What’s that guys name over there? No cheating.” He grinned.

 

     “Thomas Gardner; slight head trauma, more than likely a broken rib or two, and he’s lost hearing in his left ear as far as we can tell.” Claire stated with a smile of her own.

 

     “That’s pretty good, do you do that trick at parties too?” Owen asked, trying to stifle a cough.

 

     “Sometimes.” Claire answered, a smile still plastered on her face like a fool.

 

     “You know, I’ve got to say, you’re the prettiest nurse I’ve seen, and I’ve seen a lot of nurses lately.” Owen sighed.

 

     “I bet you say that to all the nurses.” Claire played along, knowing that more than likely it was his blood loss having him talk right now more than genuine remarks.

 

     “No, it’s true.” He mumbled, his eyes slowly closing as Claire gently placed her fingers on his wrist, keeping a pulse to make sure it was just sleep that was taking him over and not something far more final. “I’ve got a thing for red-heads.”

 

     “Get some sleep Grady, you’re going to need it to pull through this.” Claire sighed.

 

     “I’ll make you a deal.” Owen said, fighting to keep his eyes open. “I’ll pull through if you promise to go out on a date with me.” He grinned.

 

     “You can’t promise something like that.” Claire smiled, though part of her wished that he could promise something like that, she’d say yes in a heartbeat if it kept him alive.

 

     “Watch me,” Owen mumbled. “What do you say? Will you promise a date with a dying man?”

 

     “If that dying man fights to stay alive, than yes.” Claire caved in.

 

     “Good, now I’ve got something to look forward to. Can’t die now that I have a date with such a pretty nurse.” Owen smiled. “Goodnight…I didn’t catch your name.”

 

     “Claire, Claire Dearing.”

 

     “Goodnight, Claire Dearing.”

 

     “Goodnight, Owen Grady.”

 

* * *

 

     It was somewhere towards the early morning when emergency evacuation finally showed up. Most of the smoke from the battlegrounds had cleared and no more injured soldiers had stumbled into the tents overnight. Claire was struggling to keep awake here and there, and while she and the other nurses kept a fair rotation of all the patients, Claire tended to linger over Owen a bit longer than the others, making sure his breathing was stable. They were loading up the patients one by one when Owen suddenly woke up, gasping for air and taking a few nurses to hold him down while they opened up his airways.

 

     “Get him out of here, he’s going to need surgery, now!” Zara barked as the nurses scattered, the emergency evacuation nurses taking over and loading Owen up into a separate truck to get him out of there.

 

     Claire didn’t have time to say another word to him, the last image she had in her head of him was of him gasping for air, looking like he was right at death’s door. She was a nurse, she had many patients come through that didn’t make it, it was all a part of war after all – people died and not even doing your best could save them. Claire wiped away the few stray tears that escaped, she fully expected to see his name on the list of deceased at some point, someone being given the task of calling his family and saying that he wouldn’t be coming home.

 

     “Claire, are you alright?” Karen called out to her, her hand on her shoulder now and pulling Claire away from the sight of the truck speeding out of the area.

 

     “I’m fine, it’s just…hard sometimes.” Claire sighed as she wiped away more tears.

 

     “I know.” Karen nodded somberly. “You never know, he could be okay. I’ve seen worse pull out of it.”

 

     Claire could tell when her sister was lying, but she was just trying to make everything easier as she always did. It was in her nature to just try and make everything a bit easier to swallow, and Claire appreciated it more than anything. Just for once however, she wanted her sister to be right, that Owen would pull through and be fine in a couple of weeks.

 

 

* * *

 

**March 21 st, 1945**

 

     Weeks past and Claire continued to go about her days as she always would, though the nagging thought of Owen kept popping up in her mind from time to time. She’d been watching the lists everyday, looking for his name to show up on the list of fallen soldiers, and while she felt relieved to never see his name there, it only made her wonder more what had happened to him. But she carried on, as everyone else was supposed to, and it wasn’t until she took a walk through the soldiers camp to check on a soldier that had supposedly gotten a cold that she finally got her answer. He was sitting outside one of the tents, he leg was still all bandaged up and she supposed that his chest still must have been as well, but he was upright and breathing, still alive despite what had happened. Claire stopped and froze for a moment, and she knew that must have been what captured his attention and caused a broad smile to cross his face.

 

     “Told you I wouldn’t break a promise.” He called out to her with a grin.

 

     All his other fellow soldiers outside the tent with him, some familiar faces from the night they dragged him into the infirmary half-dead, started grinning and elbowing Owen in the shoulder, leaning over to ask him what he had going on with Claire exactly. Claire felt her cheeks heat up, she knew she must have been bright red, before he could call out to her again and cause a commotion among the others she carried along to continue what she came out here for in the first place. But Owen was alive, that was by far the biggest relief, he managed to pull through something that should have killed him, and while Claire felt better knowing he was fine, she couldn’t quite stop her heart from fluttering a bit while remembering the sight of his smile.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm not too sure when I'll get the next chapter done, hopefully soon, but I'm going to be starting to get to work on my Christmas presents, I might be able to get another chapter out in-between!

**April 5 th, 1945**

 

     Claire faced a bit of a dilemma when it came to Owen Grady, the first time in her two years out in the field where she had encountered such a thing. If she were back home, she would have let herself get head over heels over a guy like Owen; he had a way of making her laugh and getting under her skin in the best way possible, though he was a tad stubborn. But she wasn’t at home in Manhattan, she was out in the middle of a war, where there were rules and guidelines put into place to keep interactions like theirs from happening. She was allowed to talk and comfort the patient while they were her patient, but after that there was nothing that should have kept them talking. Claire already slipped up by telling Owen her name, she would never hear the end of it from Karen and she was lucky Zara hadn’t caught wind of it yet; she couldn’t afford to make any more mistakes with Owen. But he was…well…he was stubborn, and if something didn’t bring Owen back to the nursing tents like a check up on his wounds and how they were healing, he would go ahead and break all the rules and sneak over to the tents at night just to talk to her with that big goofy grin on his face.

 

     Whenever he’d show up at night, Claire wanted to do the responsible thing and shoo him off, tell him to go back to his tent and forget about talking to her, to just let it go. But the minute she’d try he’d look at her with those damn blue eyes and Claire caved every time, no exception. It was fine at first; the checkups during the day and Owen sneaking to the back of the tent at night for a chat during her night shifts while the patients were asleep. Then Owen started showing up with a flower or two, something form wherever he went that day, or if he stayed in camp the entire day he would sneak her a letter before he left that’d be more than sweet.

 

     “I got that one from out by the Rhine River out on a patrol this morning.” Owen explained as he held out the tiny little purple flower.

 

     “It’s beautiful.” Claire gingerly took the flower from his hands, for such a tiny flower it was quite pretty. “I’m starting to get a collection of flowers, you know.”

 

     “Well, I’ll write more letters then.” Owen shrugged as if it solved the problem instantly.

 

     “What if someone finds them?” Claire asked.

 

     “Then I’ll write it in a code, I’ll make up my own that only you know.” He countered.

 

     “Owen, you can’t keep up with the flowers and the letters, someone is going to find out. I’m already breaking more than enough rules talking to you right now, I already broke the biggest one with you.” Claire sighed. “We can’t keep this up.”

 

     “We’ll find a way,” Owen persisted. “Because I’m sure as hell not going anywhere, I don’t plan on dying anytime soon, and we still have that date to look forward to you know.” He added with a wink and a grin.

 

     “Someone is going to spot us one of these nights. If not the patients I’ve got sleeping in here than it’ll be one of the other soldiers outside, or a commanding officer, or one of the other nurses.” Claire explained.

 

     “Would you rather I just up and stopped talking to you then?” Owen asked, and for once there wasn’t a glint of mischief in his eyes, just pain.

 

     “…No.” Claire mumbled. It was selfish and wrong to persist on keeping this…relationship of sorts up with Owen, but she didn’t want to let go of him either, no matter how inappropriate she knew it was.

 

     “…We’ll be fine Claire, I promise. You know I don’t break my promises.” Owen smirked and Claire could feel a smile on her lips now.

 

     For a moment all she wanted to do was close that seemingly small distance between them and kiss him, she’s been wanting to do that for the past couple of nights she’s seen him now. But Claire cleared her throat, collected herself and tried to keep herself from blushing after thinking about kissing those lips of his.

 

     “For a minute there it looked like you wanted to kiss me.” Owen was still smiling like a fool, but his voice had somehow gotten lower, a bit huskier than it had been before, and his eyes seemed to wander down to her lips.

 

     “For a minute there, I was.” Claire confessed. She was never one to be so bold, that was usually her sister who there herself out there without worry or hesitation. Claire had always been careful, or at least she had until she met Owen.

 

     Owen looked surprised, his grin growing a bit wider and he seemed to be leaning in closer, but the minute Claire heard someone rummaging around in the tent, she stood up off the ground and ran back inside, trying to see what caused the noise and hoping Owen would stay put. In the dim lights she could make out that it wasn’t a patient, but in fact one of her fellow nurses, the head nurse Zara Young to be exact who would be more than furious if she knew Owen was outside the tent.

 

     “Stay here.” Claire hissed outside the tent before going back in and facing Zara.

 

     “Oh, Nurse Dearing, I was wondering where you were, it is your shift, isn’t it?” Zara asked, she had an intimidating look about her that always made Claire wonder if she knew more than she actually ever let on about what happened in the camp.

 

     “Yes, it is.” Claire nodded.

 

     “Then why were you outside? I saw you walk back in.” Zara stated.

 

     “I was…just taking a breather. With all the colds going around a bit of fresh air never hurt, especially in this tent.” Claire sighed, hoping Zara would believe it.

 

     “Right, well, fresh air is good but the patients need you, you’re their eyes tonight.” Zara clarified.

 

     “Yes, of course.” Claire answered without hesitation.

 

     “Good, well, I just came here for my book either way.” Zara assured her and grabbed her book up off of the main table in the room. “Can’t seem to fall asleep, reading usually does the trick. Take care of these men.”

 

     “I will.” Claire said while Zara gave her a nod in return before taking her leave from the tent.

 

     Once Claire saw her shadow completely leave sight of the tent, she scurried to the back of the tent and felt a wave of relief wash over her, knowing that her and Owen had just barely missed being caught.

 

     “Everything okay?” Owen asked quietly.

 

     “For right now.” Claire answered.

 

     For a minute, everything was completely quiet between the two of them; Claire couldn’t help but tug down at the hem of her skirt a bit. Before she could even hesitate, she saw Owen get up off the ground and close the gap between them, sweeping her into his arms and planting a kiss right on her lips. It was quick but somehow passionate, it almost felt as if a lightning storm and a surge of butterflies decided to overload every nerve ending in her body when he kissed her, and it wasn’t until Owen pulled away that she realized fully what had just happened.

 

     “What was that for?” Claire asked, a bit breathlessly.

 

     “I thought about it and…I didn’t want to just almost kiss you.” Owen said, a smile forming on his face again.

 

     Claire couldn’t really think of much to say back to that, so instead she settled herself on wrapping her arms around him and leaning into his chest, just listening to his steady breathing for a bit. She had broken so many rules with Owen in the short time she knew him; she told him her first name, she got attached, she let him get attached to her, they were sneaking around, _they kissed_. It was more than enough to get them into some trouble, they were here at war after all and not searching for anything like this, they had more important things to focus on with lives at stake. Yet, there she was, letting herself be embraced by him in his arms, still trying to savor his kiss on her lips – in short Claire knew she was in too deep, she couldn’t turn her back on him now, she wouldn’t, she cared too much.

 

* * *

 

 

**April 29 th, 1945**

 

     It had been more than a month since Owen had gotten hurt, and Claire was still surprised with how often he still dragged himself into the tent during the day. In truth, the wound to his abdomen had been especially bad, even after surgery it still needed to be watched for infection back at the camp, though it didn’t seem to hinder Owen as often anymore. There were still signs of irritation and what seemed like the beginnings of infection whenever Claire checked his bandage, but a shot of medicine would always clear it away. Today was an example of that, for the first time since he’d been shot there was nothing under those bandages but a scar starting to form where a bullet had once been that nearly took his life.

 

     “You got lucky you know.” Claire mumbled as she went to work changing his bandages. “I’ve been told that if it got any closer to any of your important organs in there that you would have been a goner.”

 

     “I had something to live for.” Owen gave her a wink and Claire kept a straight face though her blushing gave her away.

 

     “Owen, _people_.” Claire said under her breath

 

     Owen just nodded and gave a heavy sigh while Claire fixed the last of the bandages on him.

 

     “By next week you should be alright without the bandages anymore.” Claire stated. “All that will be left is a scar.”

 

     Owen took a hold of her hand before she completely pulled away, his eyes scanning over the room and seeing nothing but turned backs and soldiers with more pressing matters than someone holding a nurses hand.

 

     “Owen-“

 

     “I just…I just want all this to be done.” Owen whispered. “So we don’t have to worry about this anymore. I just want to go back to some kind of normal again.”

 

     “…I know.” Claire whispered back as she gently squeezed his hand, so tempted to lean in and steal a kiss as she had gotten used to since the first night they shared a kiss. “Me too.”

 

     “Nurse Dearing!” Vivian Krill, one of the other nurses Claire had taken a liking to during her time here, called out. “They need your help over there,” She pointed out. “He came in with a cracked rib, they say you’re pretty good at handling that.”

 

     “I’ve got it.” Claire instantly dropped Owen’s hand while Vivian ran off back towards the commotion surrounding the newly injured soldier. “You’re good to go.”

 

     “Thanks.” Owen sighed before reaching into his pockets and pressing a letter into the palm of Claire’s hand.

 

     She’d read it on her free time while she stuffed it into a pocket of her own. Owen gave her a faint smile before taking his leave out of the tent, Claire always hated to just send him off, and she knew there would be a day when she wouldn’t have to. But for now it still hurt to hide the fact that she cared about Owen, that she wanted nothing more than to spend time with him and not be afraid to plant a kiss on him in public. Someday couldn’t come quick enough in her mind.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter! I’m going to try and wrap it up with as much fluff as I can. I might try to get the last chapter out before Christmas, but on Christmas Eve I’ll be posting my Christmas prompts for my lovely raptor ladies :3

**August 23 rd, 1945**

 

     Claire could have gone home if she wanted. The troops were moving and they had nurses already in place to take care of the wounded, but as always if a nurse wanted to go, they could volunteer. She could have gone home with Karen to go see the boys, she could have picked up her life where she left it, but there was one thing that she couldn’t do and that was leaving Owen. So she stayed at his side under Zara’s ever-watchful eye, every time he got hurt again he always found his way to Claire’s direct care. Over the time a few nurses picked up on Claire’s care for Owen, and his affection towards her, they would usually help guide him to her when they could, but Zara always watched over them like a hawk, ensuring nothing happened on her watch.

 

     As the days turned into weeks and those turned into months over their time traveling together, they had come times when Claire and Owen could sneak away and find themselves completely alone. It was rare since Claire was almost always needed, and Owen was always at the ready to be called out, but in those rare moments they made sure to never waste their time. It was a storage shed somewhere behind where all their meals were served up where they met, it’d usually be five minutes here and ten minutes there, but it was usually more than enough to make their days and have a smile cross their faces.

 

     “Can I ask you something?” Owen was a bit breathless and he was almost panting as he pulled away from a kiss with Claire.

 

     “You already are.” Claire smirked, a little breathless as well.

 

     Owen laughed before looking right at Claire with a smile on his face. “When all of this is done, when we all get to go home…do you want to go out on that date still?”

 

     “That’d be nice.” Claire smiled. “I think you owe me it by now after all the times you’ve made me worry, getting shot at and nearly killed.”

 

     “I told you I wouldn’t die until I’ve had that date.” Owen responded with a chuckle before leaning in to kiss the bare spot on Claire’s neck where the first few buttons of her shirt had come undone.

 

     “If that’s the case I don’t ever want that date.” Claire stated, causing Owen to pull away and look at her confused. “I’m not planning on you dying anytime soon.”

 

     “I promise not to die on you, have I broken that promise yet?” Owen asked with a smirk.

 

     “No, but don’t go getting any ideas.” Claire giggled. “We should probably get back though.”

 

     “Two more minutes.” Owen groaned as he went back to kissing Claire’s neck.

 

     “Owen, I’ve got to go.” Claire sighed as she backed away a bit. “We’ve got a full tent, they need me back there, break or not.”

 

     “Alright, go save some lives.” Owen reluctantly pulled away but not before stealing a quick kiss from her lips. “But when we get home, I’m taking you on the best date you’ve ever been on, I promise.”

 

     “Good to know.” Claire smiled before giving Owen a peck on the cheek.

 

     “I love you.” Owen said.

 

     It had been the first time he’d said that to her, and in all honesty despite his charming nature and the grand promise of this date, she never thought she’d actually hear him say it. But there it was, he had told her he loved her, and despite hesitating for a moment to process it, Claire couldn’t help but grin.

 

     “I love you too.” She said, moments before Owen’s lips came crashing down around hers.

 

 

* * *

 

 

**August 29 th, 1945**

 

     It was a simple shot to the arm; it grazed him barely leaving anything behind except a bit of blood. It was something nurses dealt with on nearly a daily basis, a bit of medicine to keep away infection and good clean bandages until it healed up always did the trick if there was no shrapnel involved. Yet, whenever Claire heard of Owen getting hurt in any capacity, she couldn’t help but always think back to the night she almost lost him.

 

     “Are you sure you’re alright?” Claire asked, panic clear in her voice, though she was thankful she was the only one who caught Owen when he walked in, his arm wrapped in blood stained rags.

 

     “I’m fine, it’s just a scratch compared to everything else.” Owen shrugged. “It just needs some bandages and I’m good to go.”

 

     Claire nodded and grabbed something to clean up the blood and some bandages to wrap him up with. Despite knowing he’d be fine, seeing the actual wound caused a lump to form in her throat, and by the time she was wrapping bandages, her hands were shaking.

 

     “Hey,” Owen glanced around before leaning in a bit closer, taking ahold of Claire’s hand to keep her from shaking. “Claire, are you alright?” He whispered.

 

     “I’m fine.” She whispered back and nodded, a stray tear falling down her cheeks.

 

     “Claire, hon, I’m fine.” Owen smiled in an attempt to cheer her up, his good hand reaching up to wipe away her tears, and she couldn’t help but lean into his hand a bit.

 

     “I know, it’s just…I get scared when you get hurt.” Claire admitted, pulling away from his hand before her indulgence got them caught.

 

     “I’m tough, I’ll make it.” Owen laughed.

 

     “Still.” Claire mumbled while she wrapped up his arm.

 

     “I’m not leaving you.” Owen stated. “There’s been some whispers going around that all of this might be done and over with soon, and if they’re right we’ll get to go home, we won’t have to worry about any of this anymore, we can just be happy.”

 

     “I hope you’re right.” Claire sighed.

 

 

* * *

 

 

**September 4 th, 1945**

 

     The news had broken two days ago, the war was over and everyone was finally going to go home. Claire couldn’t have been happier, and knowing she still had Owen at her side only made things better. But Owen was leaving in two days; he was still needed for a few final matters, and this time Claire couldn’t protest to stay by his side.

 

     “It’ll only be two days, I’ll be flying right into New York, and we can be together with nothing in the way.” Owen smiled as he hugged Claire tightly.

 

     “I know.” Claire sighed. “I’ll just miss you, that’s all.”

 

     “Here,” Owen went ahead and took off the golden band he always had on his right hand, though Claire never questioned it. “It was my father’s ring, will you hold onto it for me until I get home?”

 

     “Of course.” Claire smiled as she took the ring, taking her necklace off to keep it safe around her neck on her chain.

 

     “Alright,” Owen smirked, leaning in and kissing Claire on the cheek. “I’ll see you in two days. I love you.”

 

     “I love you too.” Claire smiled.

 

 

* * *

 

 

**September 6 th, 1945**

 

     His flight had been delayed by an hour, but Claire waited patiently at the airport, looking through every soldier’s face that came out of those gates when the flight landed. She saw some familiar faces reuniting with their friends and family, and while she couldn’t have been happier for them, all she was thinking about in that moment was Owen. He must have been the last one that came off the plane, a big grin on his face as soon as he spotted Claire in the crowd, and it took every ounce of restraint she had not to just run right for him. She did meet him halfway, and as soon as he was right in front of her, she wrapped her arms around him tightly and kissed him as if it had been years since their last exchange.

 

     “Miss me?” Owen asked with a grin as he pulled away from their kiss.

 

     “You have no idea.” Claire said as she took Owen’s ring out of her pocket and handed it back to him, which he put back on his hand without question or hesitation. “What do we do now?”

 

     “How about we make plans for that date we keep talking about?” Owen asked.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Writing while sick is hard, I feel horrible but I'm so happy I at least finished this story! Hope you guys like it :3

**November 15, 1945**

 

     Claire insisted on waiting for their date, she didn’t want to rush him back into adjusting to civilian life, she still had to adjust herself to realize she wasn’t surrounded by bleeding and dying men all the time anymore. Every time Owen stopped by her place, he always seemed to be doing fairly well, but some days he would have this look in his eyes as if his mind was somewhere far off and dark, somewhere no one wanted to be anymore. But tonight was the night, despite Owen’s recent episodes and Claire’s protests; he was determined to take her out on their date no matter what.

 

     Claire had dressed her best; she was wearing the special red dress that was cinched at the waist that she bought a while ago just for the occasion. She curled her hair into waves and pinned it just so, she was even so daring as to put on bright red lipstick and her favorite pair of black heels to match her purse. She dressed her best, and though Owen had seen her more than enough times and told her she was beautiful every single time he saw her, she wanted to make sure it was a date to remember. Shortly after making sure she looked her absolute best, there was a knock on the door, and her heart skipped a beat knowing it was Owen. She answered the door, slowly pulling the door open and trying to hold back a smile as she watched Owen break out in a wide grin.

 

     “You look…wow…you look beautiful Claire.” Owen said, his eyes wandering over every inch. Claire couldn’t help the warm blush that started spreading out over her cheeks.

 

     “Thanks.” Claire’s voice was just above a whisper, her own shyness taking hold in that moment, she’d never really had a man look at her the way Owen was looking at her right now.

 

     “Uh, you ready to go?” Owen asked, finally pulling his gaze away from Claire’s dress and the way it hugged her hips to focus on her beautiful eyes.

 

     “Yeah, let’s go.” Claire smiled, her arm snaking around Owen’s to head out on their date.

 

 ***

 

     Owen had spent months and months talking about the date he was planning on taking Claire on ever since he first asked her out during the war that seemed so long ago now. But once he got home, it seemed to be all he could think about, he talked about taking her out to the best restaurant he knew along with a night filled with dancing until they couldn’t dance anymore. And Claire had to admit, the night had gone along better than she had expected, the food was great, and Owen danced with her all night without stepping on her toes even once. But the night was getting drawn out, and Claire was actually starting to get tired. Owen, always being the gentleman, got them a cab and offered to make sure she got home alright in one piece since she did have a couple of drinks during their night out and some had gone to her head. Owen helped her out of the taxi and walked her all the way up to her apartment door, helping her get the door open.

 

     “Thanks for the night out.” Claire smirked, she was on the verge of letting a few laughs out, but she held it together.

 

     “No problem, I had a great time.” Owen smirked. “Go ahead and get to bed Claire, you’re going to need all the sleep you can get.” He kissed the top of her forehead and smirked when he saw the blush flush across her cheeks.

 

     “I could use some help.” Claire smirked as she reached out and took ahold of Owen’s tie, gently tugging him towards her until he walked across the threshold of her front door.

 

     “Claire…as tempting as this is, I don’t think it’s such a good idea.” Owen sighed, trying to gain some self-control before he went along with something Claire might regret in the morning, and that was the last thing he wanted.

 

     “Aw, come on soldier, don’t you want to have some fun?” Claire giggled as she shut the door behind Owen and started tugging at the bottom on his shirt, desperately trying to untuck it while keeping her balance.

 

     “Come on.” Owen grumbled as he scooped up Claire and walked her to her bedroom, gently lying her down on the bed, taking her shoes off, and trying to get her to lie down. “You need some sleep Claire.”

 

     “I don’t want to sleep.” Claire pouted as she grabbed at his shirt again, this time successfully getting it pulled out with a proud smirk on her face as her hands wandered to his belt.

 

     “Claire,” Owen sighed, if her hands wandered any further, he’d have a hard time stopping himself from having his way with her in bed, and he wanted that more than anything. “You need sleep, not sex.” Owen reached for her hands and gently pinned them at her sides before leaning down and pressing a kiss to her lips.

 

     “Why can’t I have both?” Claire asked while still pouting.

 

     “Because you’re drunk.” Owen laughed.

 

     “Can’t you stay?” Claire asked. “Just stay here for the night?”

 

     “That I can do.” Owen smiled. “As long as you promise to keep your hands to yourself over there.”

 

     “I promise I will.” Claire smiled while Owen crawled into bed beside her.

 

 ***

 

**November 16 th, 1945**

 

   Claire woke up with a horrible headache, the light streaming in through her blinds was nearly blinding, and when she rolled over she was surprised at first to see Owen fully clothed beside her. He was fast asleep, flat on his back and snoring faintly, not even a single sheet or blanket pulled over him, the only thing missing was his shoes that sat at the foot of the bed. Claire started remembering the night piece by piece, and became a little more than embarrassed with herself as she remembered.

 

     She leaned over and pressed a kiss to Owen’s cheek, he started to stir and once his eyes adjusted to the morning light and Claire’s face hovering above his own, a smile broke out on his face.

 

     “Morning.” Owen yawned.

 

     “Morning.” Claire mumbled.

 

     “How are you feeling?” Owen asked a bit amused.

 

     “Better knowing that you actually stayed the night.” Claire grinned as she placed another soft kiss against his cheek. “Sorry about getting handsy.”

 

     “Oh, never be sorry about that.” Owen grinned.

 

     “Well, the least I could do is make you some breakfast, hungry?” Claire asked.

 

     “Starving.” Owen smiled.

 

     Claire kissed his lips quickly before getting up out of bed. “I love you Owen.”

 

     “I love you too Claire.” Owen smiled back.


End file.
